MI week 6

Tuesday (6a)

Sufism

Due today

PLEASE SUBMIT ALL OVERDUE WORK! I went to grade your assignments last weekend but found that I have received less than half of submissions thus far. Oct 6 is amnesty due day on late penalties. Please submit all overdue work by today, via eClass. After today I'll start to deduct points for lateness. (On time assignments before today will receive extra credit.)

A Reminder: in Reading Reports: you should do two things: (a) show me that you've actually done the reading - what is it about, what is its scope, what are the main points? Then (b) critique. Position it within a broader context. Why is it written (or filmed...) the way it is? Who is writing, for whom, when, and why? How is it biased by these contextual factors? Can you address any such biases?

New assignment:

• Read Sufism: an introduction to the mystical tradition of Islam. Skim chapters 1 and 2; read chapters 6 and 7 more carefully. Write your answer to the question: "What is Sufism?" (one page or less), and submit on eClass (6a). We'll discuss further in class.
• Watch the following video: I am a Sufi, I am a Muslim (if you have trouble accessing via this link, go to the Films on Demand database in the Library's database page and search for the title)

Class

• Introduction to Sufism

• We'll also discuss your assignments from last Tuesday and Thursday:

1. Examples of classical sources (e.g. Qur'an, Hadith, and other early texts) supporting or rejecting sama` and music; be prepared to present them.
2. Examples of contemporary sources supporting or rejecting sama` and music; be prepared to present them.

Thursday (6b)

Due today

NOTE: a few videos need to finish uploading....but you can get started...

Read:

• Tarab in the Mystic Sufi Chant of Egypt, in: Colors of Enchantment: Visual and Performing Arts of the Middle East, edited by Sherifa Zuhur. American University in Cairo Press, 2001, pp. 233-269
• "Shaykh Yasin al-Tuhami: A typical layla performance", Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, vol. 6 (2002).

• Listen to some Inshad Sufi, and read accompanying text. Be sure to review examples of inshad sufi from Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan, Ghana, and Morocco.

Watch:

• FIve Sufi Hadras. We watched some of this in class, but please rewatch the last segment: the Shaykh Yasin performance, for Shaykh Abu Shamma's "arba`in" (the 40th day after death) (if you didn't make it to class on Tuesday please watch the first four hadras also). Please also have a look at Shaykh Yasin's inshad performance for the mawlid of Imam al-Hussein (the anniversary of whose martyrdom is marked on 10 Muharram, or Ashura' - a week from today). You don't have to watch the whole thing. Just get the feel of the music, and especially the way it builds up.

• Video segment on the Whirling Dervishes; watch from 42:46 until 57:35.

• Video segments showing both Tijani (Sufi) and traditional drumming from the north of Ghana. to be added soon - now being processed on vimeo!

Write:

Based on all readings, listenings, and viewings this week, write a one page report: how are local music and musical aesthetics incorporated into Sufi ritual? In what ways is Sufi music the same, and in what ways is it different, from music of the broader culture ("Islamicate music")? How might Sufi music tinge music of the broader culture? (speculate or use readings) Consider examples from Egypt, Turkey, Ghana, and Morocco. Submit on (6b)

Class

1. Introduce your proposed research projects if you haven't already done so.
2. Islamicate Music, with a focus on the Middle East
3. Sufism and (non-religious) Islamicate music: a two way street.

• Examples:
  • Mevlevi Ayin and Ottoman art music
  • Ghanaian Akwashirawa and traditional drumming music of the Dagomba
  • Inshad Sufi of Shaykh Yasin, and Egyptian tarab music
  • Qawwali and Hindustani music of south asia.